Side Dish Recipes

After pan-frying fillets of sole for little Aria and myself last night, I realized pairing the fish with roasted potatoes in coconut oil might lack a toothsome bite. In an attempt to create the perfect balance of texture, I added an extra step to the potatoes by breading them with a mixture of breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, garlic and coconut shreds. The crunchy potatoes helped balance the texture of the fish and the addition of coconut shreds might sound a bit unusual but it was a reminder of the coconut oil used previously.

You can also find gourmet potato dishes in my first cookbook, Haute Potato, which is an ode to this root vegetable. In this book, I’ve included one of my favorites, which hails from India: a spicy potato cutlet stuffed with ground beef, or kheema. To illustrate the versatility of potatoes, the book is separated into chapters based on the primary flavor profile or texture of the dish. Each section is an exploration of the ways in which the potato can be used. So, though it may start its life in the ground, when combined with the right techniques and ingredients the potato can truly be haute cuisine.

Our entire family is vegetarian except for little Aria and me so Meatless Monday isn't something out of the ordinary in our household. It’s part of an effort on my part to eat a little bit healthier by reducing our meat consumption. If we can hit two targets with one bullet, I want to go for it. And since I'm keeping a strict vegetarian diet this week with the beginning of the Vietnamese Tết celebrations (a tradition of Tết is that you eat vegetarian (ăn chay) on the last day of the previous year and first day of Asian New Year), it's perfect timing for this..

I prepared roasted butternut squash and mixed in cooked radiatore pasta. It's super easy to prepare and if you want to be on the healthier side, you can completely omit the cheese from the sauce.

Israeli couscous, also known as Middle Eastern couscous or pearl couscous, is a great alternative to potatoes, rice or pasta. I served the less-common starch with oysters and marinated artichokes as a starter during a recent dinner party.

I served the Israeli couscous salad with wild cherry-flavored red pepper and walnut sauce, which complements the dish wonderfully and provides a pleasant color contrast.

Gratin dauphinois is one of the gourmet potato dishes featured in my first cookbook Haute Potato. It consists of just potatoes, cream, cheese, butter and a little salt, with fresh-cut herbs on occasion.

This potato gratin is delicious and easy to make. Today, I prepared a version using zucchini. This is a great way to conceal a nice portion of vegetables, especially if you're trying to feed children who don't like to eat their veggies. You can easily replace it with other greens such as broccoli. It's that easy! "Le tour est joué" (That's all there is to it! in English).

After publishing my first cookbook Haute Potato (75 gourmet potato recipes) and feeding our family our favorite potato dishes for years, I thought I had come up with all of the possible ways to cook the starchy, tuberous crop. This potato recipe is an adaptation of my potato flower crisp. This variation is a little easier and quicker to prepare than the original. It's the result of improvising for a dinner party; instead of using individual servings, I laid uniformly mandoline-sliced potato slices in a pretty design on a baking pan and baked them just as you would the potato crisp. The finished product is a thinner potato layer, which might not be as visually festive but it's just as delicious.

So next time you're tempted to create the crispy potato flower but are pressed for time, opt for this quick and easy version.